Bouquet-holder



No. 607,636. Patented July 19, I898.

' P. DONNELLY.

BOUQUET HULDER. (Applidation filed Aug. 28, 1897.)

(No Model.)

E FT P WITNESSES INVENTOI? n v 3y 5 Y ATTMNEY.

THE uomus Prrzns co, PHOTO-L|THO,. msnmemn. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PATRICK DONNELLY, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

BOUQUET-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 607,636, dated July 19, 1898.

Application filed August 28, 1897. $erial No. 649,798. (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that'I, PATRICK DONNELLY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Norwich, county of New London, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bonquet-Holders, which improvements are fully set forth and described in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings.

This invention is in the class of bouquetholders having a receptacle adapted to contain a supply of moisture, so that the freshness of the flowers held therein may be retained much longer than under ordinary conditions, the immediate object of my present invention being to improve the details of such bouquet-holders, notably the cover and the spring, by means of which said cover is retained in its normal closed position.

To assist in the explanation of my invention the accompanying drawings have been provided, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of my device; Fig. 2, a vertical central sectional view thereof, and Fig. 3 an elevation of a modification of the same.

' My device consists of a case or receptacle a, which may be rectangular in shape, as in Fig. 1, or slightly conical, as shown in Fig. 3, having its upper end closed by means of a hinged cover 1). Cover 1) is held normally in its closed position by means of a spring 0,

of which the free end engages the under side i of an extension I) of said cover and the opposite end is secured to case a. The last-named end of spring 0 is bent at right angles to the major portion of the spring 0, as at c, and is passed through an opening a in the wall of case a, the extreme end portion of the spring within said case being again bent substantially parallel with the major portion of the spring, as at 0', thus securing said spring 0 to case a, as very plainly shown in Fig. 2, from which will be understood the manner in which said spring acts to force the cover 1) into a closed position. The peculiar shape of said spring when coacting with the case a and cover extension I), as explained, serves to retain the springin its operative position and at the same time leaves said spring free to be removed by first springing its upper end out from under said cover extension, when the angular portions 0 a may be removed from the opening a in the case.

My device is secured to the garment of the user by means of a stick-pin d, in which latter, near the end which is secured to case a, I have formed a bend d, which serves, when drawn into said garment, to prevent the accidental withdrawal of said pin.

When it is desired to use my device, the case a is partially filled with moss or sponge or other substance capable of holding moisture, after which the flowers of the bouquet or boutonniere are intoduced into said case, the stems of the flowers which are in contact with the moisture being thus kept fresh for a much longer period than if simply placed in a buttonhole. The cover I), striving constantly to close by reason of spring 0, serves to clamp the flower-stems between itself and the wall of case a, and thus prevent the displacement of said stems.

Having now described my invention, I claim- A boutonniere-holder having in combination an elongated vessel packed with sponge, or the like porous material, said vessel having a hinged cover formed with an extension, as set forth, a spring one of whose ends is formed with angular bends c c that are loosely entered in an opening a in the body of the said vessel, the other end of said spring being in engagement with said exten sion 1) of the cover and operating to close said cover, and a pin secured to said vessel; said pin being formed with a bend cl, all substantially as specified.

PATRICK DONNELLY.

Witnesses: I

ALoNzo M. LUTHER, FRANK I-I. ALLEN. 

